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Due to pressure from regulators, the pharmaceutical industry is working to implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in pharmacies, hospitals, and healthcare facilities to help prevent medication errors. This technology is also being used in a variety of ways to help meet FDA drug pedigree requirements.

Drugs that act to increase dopamine activity are the mainstay of pharmacologic treatment for restless legs syndrome (RLS), a sensomotor disorder that usually manifests as an urge to move the legs, with or without other uncomfortable sensations.

Cardiovascular disease afflicts more than 71.3 million people in the United States and accounts for more deaths annually than any other cause. The estimated direct and indirect costs associated with cardiovascular disease in 2006 ($403 billion) were more than double the costs associated with cancer ($190 billion), which is the second-leading cause of death in the United States.

Intra-arterial administration of thrombolytic therapy (mainly tissue-plasminogen activator [t-PA]) has demonstrated significant and immediate clinical improvement, dubbed the "Lazarus phenomenon," in about one-fourth of patients with acute ischemic stroke. Factors associated with the Lazarus phenomenon are a shorter time to treatment, a high reperfusion score, and formation of good pial collaterals.

A panel of former FDA commissioners convened recently to exchange ideas on improvements to the agency, tackling issues ranging from restructuring FDA funding to enhancing the agency's legal authority to ensure drug safety.

Enoxaparin is superior to unfractionated heparin (UFH) for prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in acute ischemic stroke patients with partial paralysis, according to David G. Sherman, MD, lead investigator of a trial known as PREVAIL (Prevention of VTE After Acute Ischemic Stroke with LMWH Enoxaparin).

Measures in Florida and Massachusetts that require paramedics to transport qualifying patients to certified stroke centers helped to increase the number of patients who received tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) for the treatment of ischemic stroke in both states.

Emergency physician-directed treatment of patients with acute stroke using tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is as safe as treatment directed by an acute stroke team, according to the results of a retrospective study presented at the American Heart Association's (AHA's) International Stroke Conference 2007 in San Francisco, Calif.

A meta-analysis published in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion suggests that women may not achieve the same cardiovascular (CV) benefits from statins as men.

In a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the combination of fluticasone and salmeterol (SAL) statistically significantly reduced the number of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations by 35% compared with SAL alone.

Two studies published in the journals Lancet (Elliott et al) and the Archives of Internal Medicine (Barzilay et al) help to answer questions about the effect some antihypertensive agents can have on the development of diabetes mellitus, but these studies have also raised some new concerns about cardiovascular disease.

In a large, multi-center, randomized, open-label, prospective trial named the Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage Strategy (ACUITY) trial, monotherapy with the anti-thrombotic agent bivalirudin, when administered to patients experiencing an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (eg, unstable angina or myocardial infarction without ST-segment elevation), was demonstrated to be as efficacious as the current standard-of-care therapy but with nearly a 50% lower risk of bleeding. The results of the trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

First-time generic approvals

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Once-daily oral formulation of anti-inflammatory agent approved for the induction of remission in patients with active, mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis

Sterile, lyophilized powder concentrate of antihemophilic factor and von Willebrand factor complex for surgical and/or invasive procedures in patients with von Willebrand disease

With the increasing trend toward consumer-directed healthcare, providers can add another specialty to their list: bill collector.

The primary cost to patients with hospital-acquired infections is a prolonged stay and additional therapeutic interventions. But because of the high financial costs, there is increasing outside pressure to decrease infection rates.

Effective maintenance of patient records, registration information, human resources documentation, and reimbursement forms are critical to the IT success of the four-hospital Saint Clare's Health System, in northwestern New Jersey. The hospital system, which houses more than 475 active beds, serves 23,000 inpatients and 250,000 outpatients annually.

With the increasing trend toward consumer-directed healthcare, providers can add another specialty to their list: bill collector.

Surgical site infections are a significant problem in hospitals today. They occur in 2% to 5% of patients who have clean operations outside the abdomen, and in up to 20% of patients with intra-abdominal procedures. They account for about 15% of hospital-acquired infections.

Some health insurers are hoping that new benefit designs targeting individuals will attract some of the uninsured and the self-employed, who either don't realize that they can get insurance or don't know how much they can afford.

Detroit's Big Three automakers are considering shifting future retiree healthcare costs to union-controlled trust funds and are eyeing a new contract between Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers (USW) union.

Wal-Mart and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have formed what industry watchers have called an "unusual" partnership to push for quality, affordable healthcare.

Legislation encouraging more equitable coverage of mental illness is moving forward in Congress following important modification of previous requirements. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee recently approved a bill that requires health plans to offer similar benefits for mental and physical illness in terms of deductibles, copayments and treatment limitations. But the new measure no longer mandates that group health plans cover mental illness.

The Bush administration spending plan for 2008 proposes major funding curbs for Medicare, Medicaid, children's health and other government health programs.

Over the next few years, more health plans and employers will investigate covering the physician-administered injectable drugs under the pharmacy benefit as a way to control the costs and manage appropriate utilization, says Kathryn Lindhorst Canaday, PharmD, director of pharmacy analysis, Pharmaceutical Strategies Group (PSG), based in Dallas.

Consumerism in health benefits has moved beyond buzzword status to a mainstream strategy. Increasingly, health plans and employers view consumerism with a global approach to benefits-a collaboration with employees financially, organizationally and personally.